In a very special Xenoblade-themed Nintendo Direct, the Japanese gaming giant showcased a half-hour of straight gameplay footage for the upcoming Wii U exclusive JPRG Xenoblade Chronicles X.

The footage gives a delightful overview the RPG’s expansive battle system, which is a real-time action-based active system very much akin to the combat mechanics found in the original Xenoblade Chronicles on Wii.

Fighting sequences are pretty immersive, painting a distinct picture of being able to drop in and out of combat within the game’s wide-scaled environments. The UI is sleek and MMO-like, featuring a hotbar with various abilities balanced out by active cooldowns, as well as a dynamic party-based system for strategic and tactical battles.

Combat will be fluid and different characters will have “Arts” (as Gamingbolt notes these are very similar to Monado Arts featured in the first game) which are color-coded skillsets determined by various battle stances and techniques. There are four different kinds of arts: fighting, shooting, support and weakening.

Combos are an important part of combat, and you’ll be able to thread together attacks between various party members for spectacular high-damage finishing moves.

Plus every character has a sort of Limit Break-like Super Saiyan-esque boosted-damage status called an “Overclock”, which can raise damage output and unlock various other abilities.

Apart from combat sequences, the new 30 minute video gives us a decent glimpse at Xenoblade Chronicles X‘s class change system, and gamers can expect to see a multitude of different jobs and classes each with their own set of unique roles and abilities.

Nintendo still hasn’t revealed a release date for North America and Europe, and hopefully we’ll hear something on that account soon. I don’t know about you but I’m incredibly hyped for this game, and it looks to be a strong contender for 2015’s best RPG of the year.

Since were betting some of you don’t speak Japanese, Cheesemeister3k translated some of the more important facts from the video:

• Last time, we introduced Planet Mira. This time, we’ll explain the battle system. Tatsu can’t battle, so has to stay at home.

• You’d be in trouble without Tatsu. Need info? Ask him. You won’t get any info without him. He’ll keep things going smoothly.

• Now introducing beasts near NLA (New Los Angeles). Switch between sword and gun for simple attacks, activated by auto attack.

• More advanced techniques are called arts. They’re categorized into fighting, shooting, support, and weakening arts.

• Be careful when using arts: you have to wait a certain amount of time before you’re allowed to recast the same art.

• It’s important to balance usage of auto attack and arts. Soul Voice lets you communicate with your party to use specified arts.
• Soul Voice settings let you plan out strategies in advance of battle. The characters will use the ones you select
  Combos increase damage. Learn arts to generate combos. Doing a combo will let you deal 1.5x damage. Hit from behind.

• Shooting from above or below will increase your accuracy. You can target parts of an enemy to break defenses piece by piece.

• Double recast, waiting for the recast meter to refill a second time after becoming available again, will boost arts strength.

• You can bring your fallen party members back by resuscitating them. You can use auto attack while waiting for double recast.

• Overclock Gear reduces recast waiting times. Using the same arts consecutively ups damage. Triple recast is stronger still.

• Enemy Icons display their level, other info. An eye indicates visual search. A bolt means seismic sensitivity (tread lightly).

• Enemies with a circle around the eye icon hunt in packs, and will call others when they see you.

• Equipment. Weapons come in melee and shooting varieties. Armor: helmets, body armor, left arm, right arm, and leg armor.

• As you use weapons and armor, the supplying company will develop new equipment products for you.

• Equipment slots allow you to customize your weapons and armor with stat-modifying items.

• Leveling up. Gain experience not just from battle, but by finding treasure, etc. Unlocked the arts in your class to open more.

• Choose which class and set of arts to unlock and change to.

• You can form teams of 4 characters. Here’s Ilina. Guin has youthful strength. Doug uses heavy equipment, and is kind.

• This is Lao. Many characters will surprise you with what they bring to battles.

• How are you supposed to fight this big robot? Use your battle skills to win. There’s another weapon at your disposal: dolls.

• Next presentation will be about Dolls

The post Xenoblade Chronicles X Gets New 30 Minute Combat Trailer appeared first on VR World.

Monolith Soft has released a hefty amount of new Xenoblade Chronicles X info on the game’s official Japanese website, revealing a bunch of new pictures of New Los Angeles, the planet Mira, characters, quest arcs…and much more.

As Xenoblade Chronicles X is one of the most anticipated games of the year, any little scrap of info is enough to send nerds like myself into a hype-fueled flurry of excitement.

But once again Japan has one-upped the Western world’s style of teasers by unleashing a volley of new tantalizing images and info on the game, painting a clearer picture of Monolith Soft’s new magnum opus.

First off let’s take a look at character creation options.

Character Creation & Customization

Monolith Soft affirms that players will have the chance to create their own specific “Avatars” by customizing various staple features like eye color, skin color, height, hair color/style and more.

Players will also be able to customize their Avatar’s voice, and the website has a nice little preview of audio voice samples across both male and female heroes.

The character page has also been updated with in-depth dossiers on Xenoblade Chronicles X‘s in-game cast, which we have listed below.

Note that the descriptions are based on loose Japanese-to-English translations, and this probably isn’t the full list of characters.

• Elma – BLADE leader, known for her calm and insightful judgement while in and out of battle.

• Lynlee – As a genius engineer, Lynlee serves as an invaluable mechanic for the BLADE outfit.

• Tatsu – Appears to be a quirky alien indigenous to the planet Mira, very cheerful and has an innocent demeanor.

• Van Damme – BLADE commander who served as a chief engineer for the interstellar immigrant ship Moby Dick and leads the expedition forces on the planet Mira.

• Irina – Dedicated blade operative, known for her skills in the previous Doll Corps outfit.

• Guin – Young devout fighter who served in the Doll Corps alongside Elma and Irina.

• Nagi – Served as the captain of the crash-landed Moby Dick interstellar ship, currently serves as a high-ranking military executive on New Los Angeles.

• Maurice – Appears to be the president or administrative politician on New Los Angeles, acting as a chief member of the bureaucracy for the new frontier.

• Player Character (Avatar)

Planet Mira

Now let’s take a look at the game’s major fantasy world, Planet Mira. The planet is separated into five distinct major continental zones: the Forgotten Canyon, White Tree Continent, the Luminous Forest, the Black Steel Continent, and finally the Primal Wilderness.

In an effort to colonize offworld zones, Earth sent off the interstellar transport ship called the Moby Dick to look for prime life-sustaining planets.

The Moby Dick soon crash landed upon one such planet, Mira, and after two months, formed New Los Angeles (NLA) which served as the bastion of humanity in the foreign world.

Throughout their journey, players will explore Mira’s five regions in full open-world style, coming across a number of fantastic and sci-fi creatures along the way.

According to the brief introduction, players will be able to “seamlessly” traverse the world of Mira, hopping from continent to continent as they progress through the storyline.

The areas themselves are so incredibly bizarre and truly bring a sense of pure sci-fi mastery, melding wonder, splendor and curiosity together to breathe life into yet another world that’s rife with amazing style.

The sheer scope and “otherworldliness” of the planet says volumes about the game itself, and remains one of my most anticipated desires: I can’t wait to roam and carouse the regions, basking in their titanic strangeness and take in their weird alien vistas complimented with towering tentacled monstrosities and other alien flora and fauna.

New Los Angeles – The Hub of Humanity

New Los Angeles (NLA) is a city-state that acts as the major hub for human life on Mira, and is the headquarters for the BLADE military operation that protects the colony from on-world dangers.

NLW is actually the residential area from the first Moby Dick ship transplanted into the world itself, making it quite symbolic, and the city spearheads all efforts to cultivate the alien planet to make it a “second Earth”.

The techno-industrial futuristic city is sectioned off into four different areas: the BLADE area, industrial area, commercial area and residential area.

But NLA isn’t just about high-tech machines, ships and military outfits: it has a stylish side with tropical palm trees and sun-lit squares that emulate the upscale city on Earth, making it quite appealing. NLA also features beautiful gardens and parks that are perfect for evening strolls, designed to make colonists feel right at home.

Players will be able to visit these areas at their leisure, and possibly do some shopping here and there on their days off.

BLADE and the Eight Factions

BLADE is the primary military faction in Xenoblade Chronicles X that’s charged with protecting the citizens of New Los Angeles and spearheading the frontier efforts for the planet.

BLADE operatives are thrust into the most dangerous and hazardous missions in order to secure zones as well as explore and scout out various regions of Mira’s five continents. Military officials are charged with taking on hostile alien forces in direct combat encounters, while collecting information and key supplies along the way.

Members of the elite military task force also have to search Mira for “life points”, a sort of ethereal life force/essence, which might be the key in resurrecting or sustaining part of New Los Angeles’ populace that remains “asleep”.

The translations are a bit iffy, but it looks like a portion of the Moby Dick’s immigrants have been placed in a type of suspended slumber (possibly a sort of death state) and can only be brought back with “life points”.

BLADE has eight distinct Unions (or departments, sort of like guilds) that players can affiliate themselves with throughout the game.

Every Union has its own unique line of quests and missions, and completing them earns players a “Union point” which can be spent in ranking up their standing in the particular faction.

One of the main benefits of choosing a Union is that you get “Union support”, which could possibly be various upgrades like weapons and armor, or perhaps a specific skill increase.

Additionally you’ll be able to change your Union affiliation within the game, and you’re free to choose any Union you like.

Quests

Xenoblade Chronicles X will feature a number of different quest arcs similar to any open-world RPG, including main story quests and side quests.

The Japanese site also mentions something called “Kizuna Quests”, which the translations roughly say are “made in the wake of new encounter”. These could be found peppered across Mira, outside of the fortress-city of New Los Angeles.

Additionally the site shows off the in-game mini-map which looks pretty amazingly dynamic. And if you ever get lost in the game, you can call upon a magical “navigation ball” that points you in the right direction, leading you to items and quest locations.

Last but not least, we have a new batch of Xenoblade Chronicles X artwork for you to feast your eyes on. Check below for some glorious sci-fi paintings!

And if you can’t get enough Xenoblade, check out 25 minutes of in-game footage that showcases off Monolith Soft’s RPG mastery in action. Even if you’ve already seen it, it’s good for another view (or another twenty).

The post Xenoblade Chronicles X World Areas, Customizations And More Revealed appeared first on VR World.

Being a gamer in the West pretty much means we miss out on a lot.

Whether it’s overseas exclusives like Dragon’s Dogma Online, first crack at multi-region games, or incredibly detailed cover art, Japanese gamers often have it made.

And the new Xenoblade cover art just rubs it in even more.

A new listing on Amazon Japan shows the overseas box art for Xenoblade Chronicles X in all of its supra-sci-fi Gundam-y glory.

As far as epic covers go, this is yet another staple to add in Japan’s already ample library of amazing video game box art.

Could we see this titanic masterpiece make its way West this year? Or is this cover destined to be yet another expensive collector’s item?

Only time will tell, but Japan will get their hands on Monolith Soft’s sci-fantasy epic in April whereas the rest of the gaming world will have to wait for an official 2015 release date.

Also just in case you missed it, check out our glimpse at 25 minutes of Xenoblade Chronicles X gameplay footage below. It showcases battles, New Los Angeles, and much more.

And don’t forget to drop by our Xenoblade Chronicles X coverage for more info on the Wii U exclusive, including install size, peripheral support, and even the Japanese exclusive Wii U bundle.

The post Xenoblade Chronicles X Japanese Box Art Revealed appeared first on VR World.

Nintendo has released a new 25-minute block of glorious Xenoblade Chronicles X footage that is sure to tantalize and raise your hype factor for the Wii U exclusive a thousandfold.

As revealed by the developers at Monolith Soft, Xenoblade Chronicles X isn’t a direct sequel to its Wii predecessor, but rather a “spiritual successor” to Xenoblade Chronicles, and that the two games are unrelated in a direct way.

New info has also come to light regarding the game’s online component, which Monolith Software’s Tetsuya Takahashi describes as a “loosely connected” experience. Xenoblade Chronicle X‘s online features won’t be as dynamic as a traditional MMO, but despite the “feeling of solidarity” players can trade, interact and quest together.

Cheesemeister3k, a Twitter user well-known for his translation of many Japanese games, revealed that players will be able to team up in parties of four to tackle adventurous quests in the online mode.

Up to 32 players can be “passively” linked to chat, trade items and share information back and forth. The in-game city of New Los Angeles will serve as a multiplayer hub as well.

Cheesemeister3k also confirmed that Xenoblade Chronicles X has a massive 22.7 GB install size for downloads, and that the game supports Wii U Pro Controllers, GamePads and USB keyboards as far as peripherals.

#XenobladeX supports GamePad, #WiiU Pro Controller, USB keyboard. Miiverse support. Off-TV play. 720p. pic.twitter.com/doXkkkLoxj

— Cheesemeister (@Cheesemeister3k) February 6, 2015

#XenobladeX is 22.7GB to download. Better get an external HDD. pic.twitter.com/lc8BcfxDsw

— Cheesemeister (@Cheesemeister3k) February 6, 2015

Other staples like Miiverse support, off-TV play and full 720p resolution have been reported as well.

Destructoid reports that Xenoblade Chronicles X is set in a planet named Mira with five separate continents that will be featured in-game: Forgotten Canyon, White Tree Continent, Luminous Forest, Black Steel Continent and the Primal Wilderness.

Apart from its landmasses, Monolith Soft’s new Xeno game is truly massive in terms of content. To put its sheer scope into perspective, Takahasi confirmed that the most recent playtest check took over 300 hours to complete.

“But even [after 300 hours], there were still things in the game that weren’t played through to completion,” Takahashi adds.

If that wasn’t enough, Japan is getting a special limited-edition Xenoblade Chronicles X Wii U bundle priced at ¥ 35,000 (~$294) that includes the following:

• Black 32GB Wii U
• Matching Wii U GamePad
• Xenoblades Chronicles X physical copy
• Xenoblade Chronicles X art book
• Xenoblade Chronicles X special map
• ¥1,000 ($8) prepaid Nintendo card stylized in Xenoblade design

Last but not least we have a gallery of awesome concept art for you to feast your eyes on. I personally have these amazing pieces as mobile wallpapers, and every day I’ll change them up to revel in their beautiful brush strokes and fabulous colors.

Xenoblade Chronicles X is scheduled to release April 29, 2015 in Japan and sometime this year in North America and Europe. It will be exclusive to Nintendo’s Wii U console.

The post Watch 25 Minutes of New Xenoblade Chronicles X Footage appeared first on VR World.